Amore
by ThyDeviousViolet
Summary: "There were many women before, and many since, but none compare to the beautiful Cristina Vespucci. My beautiful Cristina..." As Ezio encounters Cristina Missions in Rome, he contemplates the love and the life he once had, as well as his future. Please R&R!


_While playing the Cristina Missions in Assassins Creed: Brotherhood, it began to occur to me that despite Ezio's charming and fierce appearance, perhaps he was melancholy under the surface. I then began to think of everything that Cristina stood for, and it seems to me that she symbolizes the way in which everything was taken from him. REVIEWS are much appreciated, this is my first AC fanfic._

Nothing is true, everything is permitted. 

I honor these words of our creed. Through time and several misfortunes, they seem sometimes to serve as my only comfort. I do not live as a victim, nor do I live as a man who pursues vengeance, as these would develop into grave weaknesses. There is comfort in knowing that I am a part of something larger than myself; that my acts will aid in protecting our world as we know it.

Yet there are moments, ever brief and fading, where I long for what once was before. The carefree boy of seventeen who lived in Florence, with his whole family intact. Do not misunderstand, I am ever grateful my mother and Claudia remain. There strength and eagerness are a great asset to my mentality and to the Assassin cause. Selfish human nature, however, causes us to wish for more than what we are able to maintain. My father and brothers are mourned despite the time that has passed, as well as the life that I once lived.

I recall the smells of the streets, fresh and vibrant. The ignorance I had then protected me from the vile horrors that were forming around us, and because of this the city had a playful way of expressing itself. I recall the style of architecture, with its sweeping height and perfect attention to detail. I also recall the pride I felt roaming the streets as the son of Giovanni and Maria Auditore, without paranoia or focus on murdering an individual man.

And, of course, I recall a woman.

There were many women before, and many since, but none compare to the beautiful Cristina Vespucci. _My_ beautiful Cristina.

Many a night I ran to her in secret. I can still remember what she smelled of, a sweet and intoxicating wave of fresh roses. I can remember the way she tasted, and the way she moaned my name we stirred inside one another. Her skin so soft and delicate. It seemed to be our clandestine romance, though everyone was aware. I had not yet acquired the skill of stealth, and would not have wished to. It was to our humor that her father's guards could never catch me, and this is something that causes me to laugh even today.

As I find myself stumbling upon young women who resemble her here in Roma, it has caused me to feel prominent emotions. I thought I was going insane at first, but I have come to enjoy every girl who causes me to ponder her. (They truly are girls... I am no longer as young as I once was.)

To ponder what we had, and to ponder what could have been.

For years, I have not decided if letting her marry another man was the correct thing to do. When I arrived to visit in her bedroom some years ago, I wish I could forget the expression on her face. It was evident that she loved me, indeed, but she was engaged to another. But when I think harder, I now believe she wanted me to save her from such a marriage. She agreed to the terms because she thought I was never to return for her, and she settled. A woman such as that deserves only happiness, and nothing less than perfection. The man she married was quite short of this, though he did love her, but I now see that I too was not a perfect match.

I loved her dearly, and still do. But I do not think I would be able to give her everything she deserves. With the lifestyle I live, it would not be a stable environment for her. If we were together, I would have her near me at all times, I could not bear being with her and having a distance separate us. But to stay near me she would be in a position similar to Claudia and mother, as there would be no other place for her to go. I am not degrading them, but their jobs are not suitable for Cristina. When I consider reality and technicalities, I see that perhaps by letting her go it was the best thing for us both.

This fact, however, does not make it easier to forget such a fine figure of a woman.

What if she and I had been married...?

There is an image in my mind that I have secured only for the moments where I ponder as I am doing now: We live in Florence, and I am a common banker with my father and Federico. Petruccio is becoming a young man, forming his own life as I once did, running errands for us and experimenting with his choice of women. Perhaps I would be an uncle, as Claudia and Federico too would be married. Mother would rejoice; all of us successful and the Auditore name expanding. The pain of loosing her husband and children would never cross her mind.

I would come home in the evening to my wife. There she would be, awaiting my arrival after having had an interesting day herself. Shopping at the markets, and interacting with Claudia and mother. I imagine her matured, blissful, and round. Without a doubt, pregnant with our child. I would kiss her with passion, to make her understand how extreme my love and affection is, my hand grazing the ever growing life within her.

I consider what the child would look like, naturally it would be as handsome or as beautiful as the combined physical features of the two of us. Son or daughter, it does not matter. We would surely have more, I do not see how I could resist Cristina's charms or the growing desire I have to make a family. I believe I would be a great father, protecting my children from the dangers of the world and allowing them to experience the wonderful things that Florence has to offer. Cristina, too, would be a fantastic mother. Her loving nature would only grow as the children would.

Certainly, we would be happy.

All of us, would be happy.

...Yet all of that is a mere fantasy. Perhaps my own destiny is more grand and spectacular, though at times I crave for normalcy. I do not take the life I live for granted, and I enjoy all that I am able to experience. The abundance of women and flirting has not decreased in recent years, though I do hope someday to settle down with the right woman. I do not think I can do that now with the work that lies ahead of me. I desire desperately to have a companion and to create a family.

I will never forget Cristina Vespucci. The last time my lips met hers in Venice, she was not very thrilled with my actions, and I cannot blame her. Perhaps she thinks of me here and there, maybe she stumbles upon men who remind her of me in the way that I see women who remind me of her. I do not know, and I do not believe I ever will.

My moments of longing and remembrance are becoming shorter and less detailed with every time it occurs. This is a good thing, as eventually they will cease forever. Until then, as I rebuild Roma and remain in this city, encountering these memories will allow me to say goodbye to the life I once lived... it truly was the best.


End file.
